CTA chairman: No more fare hikes at least through 2015

November 21, 2012|By Jon Hilkevitch | Tribune reporter

The CTA’s top official, defending $56 million worth of fare increases set for next year, on Wednesday promised a moratorium on future hikes through at least 2015 as the result of the transit agency "righting this financial ship that we’ve been on."

"If you’re going to pay more next year, you are going to be paying the same thing in 2014, you are going to be paying the same thing in 2015. So we are providing a sense of stability," CTA chairman Terry Peterson told the Tribune editorial board as transit officials set out to win support in the next month for a plan to increase the prices of all forms of CTA fare passes to help offset a projected $165 million budget shortfall next year.

"I don’t see there’s a fare hike in 2015 unless the economy totally collapses and we go into a recession," Peterson said, adding that the fare increases are justified by CTA investments in new buses, rail cars and other infrastructure aimed at improving service.

"It’s not as though we are asking our customers to step up and help us and we are not giving anything back," he said.

Under the proposed $1.39 billion CTA budget released Tuesday, only the base fares for single rides will remain the same next year. One-day and multi-day passes will cost 16 percent to 74 percent more.

It will also cost $5 instead of $2.25 to ride the Blue Line from O’Hare International Airport if a pass is not used.